I am Very Pleased with the G4

[caldwest]

Yesterday, I received my G4 in the mail, and after a couple of hours, I had it charged and programmed. It works great on the Palmetto P25 Charleston County Simulcast system in Charleston, S.C. Reception is certainly better with the G4 than with the BCD536, 436, and 996XT scanners that I have . . . all of which have some degree of distortion that range from anywhere to 5% to 10% of transmissions on the P25 system. I had learned to accept that there is a certain amount of distortion to expect when monitoring a P25 simulcast system, but that is not the case with the G4. I have not heard any distortions with the G4, all transmissions have been clear with excellent audio quality.

What really has surprised me is that I was unaware that the BCD536 was not picking up some transmissions. Running the G4 and BCD536 side by side, I have observed the 536 missing transmissions or picking up transmissions seconds after the G4.

I understand that the G4 is a pager, but I hope the good folks at Unication will be able to add some scanner features in future firmware updates such as holding on or skipping talk groups.

 

[JASII]

I Am Very Pleased With The G4

That is great to know. Thank you for posting that. I have had the G5 for a while now and it works great on the Minnesota ARMER system. The price is hard to swallow for a lot of people. Possibly the fact that it is not quite as versatile is also a sticking point for some people, too. I have programmed several areas, typically counties in my area, for the Minnesota ARMER system and it works great. Some may be concerned that it will only monitor 64 talkgroups at a time.

At the end of the day, many hobbyists realize that simply having one radio won't cut all of the time. I have a Uniden Bearcat portable on order. I realize that it will not receive Minnesota ARMER as well as my G5 will. My porpose for it, however, will be to TRUNK SEARCH my area and lock out known talkgroups that I don't want to monitor. Then, the ones that just pop up from time to time will be heard. I will also use the Uniden for federal monitoring, which there isn't much that isn't encrypted in my area, and DMR searching.

Some of us are still waiting for encrypt mute and monitor mode lock out on the G4/5. In the meantime, it works great, as is.

Some have also reported great luck by buying the RELM portable for listening. It is a much more expensive solution, but it has some other advantages, like it can monitor multiple sites. It will only monitor 16 talkgroups vs. Unications 64 talkgroups. It is also single band vs. Unication G5s dual band. If one had a lot of spare cash, the correct answer would be BOTH of them!

Ultimately, I would love to see Uniden Bearcat and Whistler eventually create a receiver design that properly decodes CQPSK simulcast modulation. I gather that it is currently cost prohibitive for either of them to do that. In the meantime, we have what we have.

 

[sparklehorse]

<snip> Ultimately, I would love to see Uniden Bearcat and Whistler eventually create a receiver design that properly decodes CQPSK simulcast modulation. I gather that it is currently cost prohibitive for either of them to do that. In the meantime, we have what we have.

There's been free software available for some time now, such as OP25, that does properly handle CQPSK. In fact, it could well be that the Unication pagers use some form of Software Defined Radio solution to this problem. So I don't think the cost of the technology is the barrier right now, I think Uniden and Whistler just haven't found a way to implement it in the current crop of scanners through firmware updates. You can bet they've been trying. It could also be that current scanner CPUs just don't have the horsepower required to support a software based solution. I'm sure though the next crop of consumer scanners, which could be a year or more away, will feature far better P25 performance. That will be the one hook that gets thousands of new units sold very quickly indeed.

.

 

[diskmonger]

What really has surprised me is that I was unaware that the BCD536 was not picking up some transmissions. Running the G4 and BCD536 side by side, I have observed the 536 missing transmissions or picking up transmissions seconds after the G4.

I owned a 536 for a short time and concur with your findings, while the scanner appeared to receive better on P25 simulcast it was obvious it was missing a lot of the transmissions. For someone who doesn't have a receiver that handles P25 simulcast properly they would never really know this and be able to make the comparison.

I'm done giving my money to Uniden and Whistler, they both continue to produce radios that do not function on P25 simulcast. I think the first simulcast site in my area came online almost 10-15 years ago and they still haven't figured it out? I don't even think it's a matter that they couldn't do it, they just don't feel it's important.

I've owned the G5 for awhile now and it performs perfectly on Simulcast. Anyone asking for a recommendation for a receiver for my area I can't in good conscience recommend Whistler or Uniden.

 

[jmontes77029]

I owned a 536 for a short time and concur with your findings, while the scanner appeared to receive better on P25 simulcast it was obvious it was missing a lot of the transmissions. For someone who doesn't have a receiver that handles P25 simulcast properly they would never really know this and be able to make the comparison.



I'm done giving my money to Uniden and Whistler, they both continue to produce radios that do not function on P25 simulcast. I think the first simulcast site in my area came online almost 10-15 years ago and they still haven't figured it out? I don't even think it's a matter that they couldn't do it, they just don't feel it's important.



I've owned the G5 for awhile now and it performs perfectly on Simulcast. Anyone asking for a recommendation for a receiver for my area I can't in good conscience recommend Whistler or Uniden.

I plan on purchasing a G5 tomorrow. I live in Houston, tx and my Uniden and whistler performs very bad due to distortion and interference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[IAmSixNine]

Im an owner of Uniden, Whistler, Moto radios, Relm and G4, i have 2 classifications of reception.
Scanner and commercial gear.
As much as i love my commercial gear a scanner will always be an important tool in my scanning arsenal. Once my scanner has found what i want i can then put it in my commercial radios.
So far i very happy with my G4 and Relm KNG2-P800 and eventually plan to sell off my Moto gear.

 

[jmontes77029]

I have the trx1 and trx2 and both the uniden 436 and 536 but definitely want to add the G5 to my collection. I will be purchasing one tomorrow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jmontes77029]

I have the trx1 and trx2 and both the uniden 436 and 536 but definitely want to add the G5 to my collection. I will be purchasing one tomorrow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, what are the difference between the G4 and G5. I really just want to listen to the TXWarn p25 simulcast system only. Would you recommend G4 or G5?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[IAmSixNine]

G4 is single band 700/800
G5 is Dual band VHF/700/800 or UHF/700/800

 

[BenScan]

The G4 is 700/800Mhz only. The G5 covers 700/800/VHF or 700/800/UHF(in 1 of 2 different ranges).

 

[sparklehorse]

If I could have a do-over, I would just get a G4 because simulcast P25 reception is the only real strong point for these radios when used as a scanner. My G5 does OK on VHF conventional, but my consumer grade scanners are just as good if not better. For one thing the Unication is limited to a scan list of just 16 conventional channels, but also it can only use its internal antenna for VHF. So while the G5 VHF reception is decent, it is not as good as a Uniden 436 or 325 can be with a better antenna attached. I don't own a G5 UHF model, so I can't speak to what its UHF reception is like, but as I understand it also uses only an internal antenna for UHF conventional.
It is kind of nice to have some conventional VHF channels stored in it just in case I need to drive into the next county unexpectedly. But with the G5 you can't scan both VHF conventional and a P25 system at the same time, or monitor an 800MHz analog Moto system AT ALL, so for me it's not ideal for this scenario either.

Just food for thought.

.

 

[jmontes77029]

If I could have a do-over, I would just get a G4 because simulcast P25 reception is the only real strong point for these radios when used as a scanner. My G5 does OK on VHF conventional, but my consumer grade scanners are just as good if not better. For one thing the Unication is limited to a scan list of just 16 conventional channels, but also it can only use its internal antenna for VHF. So while the G5 VHF reception is decent, it is not as good as a Uniden 436 or 325 can be with a better antenna attached. I don't own a G5 UHF model, so I can't speak to what its UHF reception is like, but as I understand it also uses only an internal antenna for UHF conventional.
It is kind of nice to have some conventional VHF channels stored in it just in case I need to drive into the next county unexpectedly. But with the G5 you can't scan both VHF conventional and a P25 system at the same time, or monitor an 800MHz analog Moto system AT ALL, so for me it's not ideal for this scenario either.

Just food for thought.

.

I think I will go with the G4. I already have my 536 mounted in my car and can use that to scan uhf and 800MHz analog Moto.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jmontes77029]

I think I will go with the G4. I already have my 536 mounted in my car and can use that to scan uhf and 800MHz analog Moto.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And I also have my handheld 436 and my Trx-1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JASII]

I Am Very Pleased With The G4

I think I will go with the G4...

What is the price difference these days between the G4 and the G5? When I bought my G5 last year they were the exact same price, but there might be a price difference these days.

Update: I just checked Pay's Pager Sales and the G4 is $565.25 and the dual band G5 is $660.25. Those are both great prices!

 

[DanRollman]

What is the price difference these days between the G4 and the G5? When I bought my G5 last year they were the exact same price, but there might be a price difference these days.

Update: I just checked Pay's Pager Sales and the G4 is $565.25 and the dual band G5 is $660.25. Those are both great prices!

Wow. I see that. If that's not a mistake, that's another game changer.

 

[jmontes77029]

Wow. I see that. If that's not a mistake, that's another game changer.

There is a dealer right where I live by houston that has the same price.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk